Yoruba Orisha

Yoruba r Cults: Some Marginal Notes concerning Their Cosmology and Concepts of Deity
Author(s): P. R. McKenzie
Source: Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 8, Fasc. 3 (1976), pp. 189-207
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Journal
of
Religion
in
Africa,
Vol.
VIII,
facs.
3
YORUBA ORISA CULTS:
SOME MARGINAL NOTES CONCERNING THEIR
COSMOLOGY AND CONCEPTS OF DEITY* 1
BY
P. R. McKENZIE
(University
of
Leicester, U.K.)
YORUBA
Orish
cults have been
receiving
attention for a
long
time
now,
both
singly,
and
together
in more
general
treatments of Yoruba
religion.
2
But
many questions
remain. For
example:
census
figures
may give
an
approximate
number of non-Christians and non-Muslims
in Western
Nigeria,
3 but the number of
dris& cult-groups
at
any given
point
in time has
never,
as far as I
know,
been
ascertained, except
in
the case of certain towns and cities. 4
Another
question,
of some
significance,
concerns the
way
the
brisa
-the Deities-relate to one another in the context of an overall reli-
gious cosmology.
Much
controversy
has been aroused over the
question
of the
Supreme Deity,
5 rather less over the status and
interrelationship
*
Note on
Orthography.
Limits have been
imposed by
the
type available,
such
that e
represents
both e and
e,
o represents
both o and 0.
1
The
following
was
presented
for discussion at a
meeting
of the Africa section
of the British Association for the
History
of
Religions
in
September 1976.
Acknowledgement
is
gladly
made of assistance
given
in the
preliminary stages by
the Research Board of the
University
of Leicester.
2
Noteworthy examples
of these include Leo Frobenius' Die atlantische
G6tter-
lehre
(Jena:
E. Diederichs
1926)
and The voice
of Africa (London:
Hutchison
I913),
and W. R. Bascom's The
sociological
role
of
the Yoruba cult
group (Amer-
ican
Anthropological Association,
Memoir
63, 1944).
3
812,ooo (7.9%)
in
1963.
4
Judith Gleason,
in her Orisha: the
gods of
Yorubaland (New
York: Athe-
neum
1971, p. 118), speaks
of "about
forty
active orisha in Yorubaland". D.
O.
Epega (The basis
of
Yoruba
religion, Ebutemetta, Nigeria: Ijamido
Publishers
1971)
lists more than
sixty.
Winm.
Bascom
(The
Yoruba
of
Southwestern
Nigeria,
New York:
Holt,
Rinehart and Winston
1969),
estimates the number of "white"
deities and hill deities alone at more than a hundred.
5
Apart
from the standard work of E. B.
Idowu, Ol6ddimare: God in Yoruba
belief (London: Longman 1962),
mention should be made of C. H.
Long's
The
West African
high god: history
and
religious experience, History of Religion 3,
1963-64, 328-342;
Pierre
Verger,
The Yoruba
high god
-
a review of the
sources,
Odu
2, 1966,
19-4o;
and Robin
Horton,
Conference: 'The
high god
in
Africa', idem, 87-95. (It
should be
clearly recognized
that the notion of a
'High
God' has not
always proved helpful
when
applied
in an African
context.)
190
P. R. McKenzie
of the
6risd.
Just
as
people
have been content to
give
a notional answer
to the
question
of the number of
riSsa-201,
4o01
and so on-so
too,
we have tended to be content with some convenient model of the
Yoruba
religious cosmology
which
grouped
the
6risa
cults
together
in
some kind of ordered
way.
Three kinds of model have assumed some
degree
of
prominence.
The first
one,
and
by
far the most
popular
and
long-standing-one
to
which I
myself
adhered for some
years-was roughly triangular
in
shape.
The
6rissh
occupied
much of the
space
within the
triangle, graded
according
to their
importance
and
power.
Below them were the
imahlk,
the
spirits, many
of whom were
unpredictable
and
dangerous.
Above
the
risah
was
Ol6run-Ol6ddiimare,
the
Supreme Deity,
whose 'ministers'
the %risI
were,
6
and whose
delegated power they deployed
as mediators
between God
and
mankind. A second
model,
outlined
by
Morton-Wil-
liams,
to some extent in reaction to the first
one,
7
was more circular or
spherical
in
shape.
In the
upper hemisphere
the scenario was little
changed:
Ol6run-Ol6ddiimarei
was still above the
greater
and
lesser
orisa.
But there were two
important
modifications: two of the
obrish,
Ifi
and
f'sii,
were
placed
in a
special position
to one
side;
and below
the
6ris.'s
was a
group
of cults more
closely
related to the earth
spirit.
These formed the
earthly counterpart
to the
sky
deities and
Supreme
Deity.
On the surface it all looks like some kind of Iranian
dualism,
and it
has,
in
fact,
been likened to the
latter,
but I do not think the
author of this model saw the same kind of radical
opposition
in
Yoruba
religion
at all.
Morton-\Villiams
believed that the revised model accorded better
with the
cosmology implicit
in the
praise songs (oriki),
chants and
prayers
of the
ortisa
cults
themselves, though
he did not
attempt
to
substantiate this claim in detail.
s
Some
years previously, however,
Pierre
Verger,
a French
scholar,
had taken the trouble to collect and
publish
what is still
perhaps
the
largest single
collection of these oriki
and chants.
9
Reflecting
on this first-hand
material, Verger
concluded
that the various
6rissh
were
separate
deities in the full
sense,
juxtaposed
6
E. B.
Idowu, op.cit., 57ff.
7
P.
Morton-Williams,
An outline of the
cosmology
and cult
organization
of the
Oyo Yoruba, Africa 34, 1964, 243-260.
8
Ibid., 243.
It
does, admittedly, appear
to accord rather well with some of the
myths, especially
the creation
myth.
9 P.
Verger,
Notes sur le culte des
OriSa
et Vodun a
Bahia,
la Baie de
tous
les
Saints,
au Bresil et a
l'ancienne
C6te
des Esclaves
en
Afrique,
Dakar
I.F.A.N.,
1957-
Yoruba Orisa Cults
191
theisms, perhaps
even
juxtaposed
monotheisms. 10 What was common
was the secret and sacred
power (ass),
a
"non-anthropomorphic
form
of
theism",
which was
experienced
in the course of the rituals of the
cult-groups.
11
Verger's model, then,
simply placed
the
oris
side
by
side,
and avoided
altogether arranging
them under the
Supreme Deity,
as lesser
deities,
or divinities.
Each of the three models outlined has
advantages
and
disadvantages.
The first is
strong
in terms of the
unity
and
continuity
of divine
power,
something
which is
certainly
felt in Yoruba
religion.
Moreover it caters
for the 'macrocosm' as well as the
'microcosm',
to use terms made
popular by
Robin Horton some
years
back. 12
There is the
strong
tendency
in this model to take account of
theological speculation
within
the
cult-groups
in the direction of a more rationalised universalist
monotheism. More
importantly,
for our
purpose,
it sometimes
appears
to have the effect of
jeopardising
the
integrity
of the individual
brish
cults
by narrowing
the true
profile
of attributes of the
bris.t
themselves. 13 Thus the microcosm
may
be sacrificed too much to the
interests of the macrocosm. Morton-Williams' revision
goes
some
distance towards
correcting
the imbalance. It restores an
independent
position
to
Onile,
the earth
goddess,
whose cult
may
well have antedated
those of the
broisa
associated with the
sky.
It also
recognizes
the
special
position
of
IAsit
and Ifa for members of all the cult
groups.
However it
is
probably
true to
say
that the
'sky'
&riah,
e.g. Ogitn
and even
S~ng6,
have also
strong
links with the earth.14
Verger
would doubtless
say
that all the
3risa
cults are
really
earth cults.
15
Also,
If'a and
E'siu
are not
the
only
brish
that offer services to members of other
cult-groups.
10
Ibid., p. ii,
and
Verger,
The Yoruba
high god... (1966), p. 24.
11
Verger,
Notes sur le culte ...
(957), 29f;
and The Yoruba
high god (1966),
35-40.
12 First, in Man, 1962, Art. no. 219, 137-140; later in African conversion,
Africa 41, 1971,
Ioiff.
13
Examination of the
praise-songs
addressed to the
3rispi
reveals a wide
range
of attributes. It is not the
case, thus,
that
Ogi'n
is
simply
a
"god
of iron and war".
He is also a
god
of
fertility
and the earth.
Similarly
with
respect
to their sub-
ordination to
O16run-O16diimari.
We
find,
as
early
as
1848,
that followers of
Idagbe (Dangbe)
near
Badagry
hasten to assure the Sierra Leonian William
Marsh,
who has
reproached
them
concerning
the
'vanity'
of
worshipping 'idols',
that their intention was 'to
worship
the
Almighty
God
through Idagbe' (CMS
CA2/o67
W.
Marsh, Jnl. Q.E. 25.9.1848).
14
Ogrin,
for
instance,
is called Master of the World and Owner of the Earth
(Oris
Onilei)
in an
Ishidi
chant
(Verger,
Notes sur le
culte, 196-198).
The
'active'
brtiv;
clearly
tend to accumulate attributes.
15
P.
Verger,
The Yoruba
high god... (1966), pp. 34f.
192
P. R. McKenzie
S~ng6,
0giin
and other
brist
do the same. 16
Apart
from these
specific
features,
one has the
feeling
that the second model is almost as
tightly
enclosed as the first one.
Verger's
loose
juxtaposition
of different
cult-groups,
linked
by
the
common belief in the
power
of medicinal substances
conveying
ask,
is attractive in a number of
ways:
it at least
gives
the
ris~h
cults an
independent
status.
Perhaps
it over-values the
importance
of
ask,
though
this does form
apparently
a
widespread
feature of the Yoruba
cults.
17
Perhaps, too,
it under-values the inter-relatedness of the cults
and the
specialization
of
particular cult-groups,
such as Ifi and
Isii.
But it has the merit of
providing
a useful base-line for
following up
the
suggestion put
forward
by
Morton-Williams:
namely,
to look at the
extent to which the oriki and chants of
drigsa
cults
support
a
given
cosmological
model: in
particular,
how often
they
mention other
drisa
as
well,
and also
O16run-Ol6duimare,
the
Supreme Deity,
or
Onilk,
the
earth
goddess.
The
assumption
is that these
oriki
and chants are
speaking
of what is
important
to the members of the
particular
3risa
tradition concerned.
Or--to
use the German
proverb-Wes'
das Herz
voll
ist,
des'
geht
der Mund
iTber.
18
If the answer should be
strongly
positive,
this should tend to
argue
for a more unified
cosmological
model of the
triangular
of circular
pattern.
If
not,
then we shall have
to think in terms of
Verger's
or some variant of
this.
I should like to
begin
with a brief reference to
my own-admittedly
limited-experience
in
1972
and
1975
of cult celebrations of
Sing6
and
Onile,
two
&risa
associated with the
sky
and earth
respectively.
19
(Further
contacts with the
cult-groups
of
Eguinguin,
Orils-Oko
and
Ok&-Oriri,
Hill
Divinity
at
Iwo,
20 do not alter the
general picture
16
.Sng6
priests
are concerned with all
places
struck
by lightning;
Ogrin's
importance
in war becomes
infinite;
and Frobenius discerned
long ago
the funda-
mental
importance
for all
3riesd
cult members of
Osanyin,
the
0riSh
of
healing
with medicinal leaves.
17
One of
$Sng6's praise
names is "leaves are
profitable
indeed"
(D.
A.
Adeniji
and P. R.
McKenzie,
Funeral Rite of a
Samng6
Priestess
(manuscript),
Chant
28c).
18
It was
pointed
out in discussion that the
oriki, being
traditional in
form, may
not
represent
the
present
beliefs of the
oldris4i;
but this does not detract from
their normative character for the
cult-group
as such. The
advantage
of the oriki
and chants over other statements
by
the
people
about their
cosmology
is that the
oriki, being
traditional 'survivals' from an earlier
day
are less affected
by
the
pressures
of the macrocosm.
19 D. A.
Adeniji
and P. R.
McKenzie, op.cit.,
and also: The annual festival of
a
Sng6
compound (1972)
and The secret rite of the
Ogb6ni
Cult
(I975),
both in
manuscript.
20
In
August-September 1974.
Yoruba Orisa Cults
193
found with these two
orisa.)
At the
time,
and afterwards as I studied
the text of the oriki and
chants,
it became
plain
that
Sing6
was himself
the
object
of devotion in his own
right,
and that
Onilk
was
equally
the
object
of devotion in her
cult-group
as well. No other &ris& received
attention to
any great
extent. In the case of the
S~ng6
festivals,
there
were
references,
as we
might expect,
to
Ifa
and
Ish.
There was a
comparison
of
Sing6's power
with that of
Ogrin,
and at the end of one
of the
festivals,
there was an oriki to
Yemoja,
the
goddess
of
waters,
in
mythology
the mother of
Sing6.
The
purpose
of this
was, doubtless,
to define
S~ng6's place
in the
Urzeit,
and to exert a
"cooling"
effect on
rituals which
might
tend to
get dangerously
overheated with a "hard"
or "hot"
deity
like
S.ng6.
There was however no reference at all to
Ol6duimare
or to
Onile.
In the case of the
Ogboni ritual,
the theme
throughout
was
simply
"Hail to the Earth
Deity (HPkepea
Malel)".
There were brief references to
Ogrin,
S.ing6,
S6ponna
and Irok6
(a
dendromorphic
odrisa),
that
they
should not harm cult members of
Onile. But there was no reference to Ol6dumare.
The
concept
of
deity
reflected in the cult celebrations of these two
drisa
in
Oyo
state
may perhaps
best be described
by
a term used
by
Friedrich
Heiler,
namely subjective
theism.
21
However,
as other bri
s
were mentioned in the oriki it is
important
to
go
on to
qualify
the kind
of
subjective
theism of the
drtisa
in the
light
of other collections of
oriki and chants.
First,
let us look at
Verger's collection,
drawn from
many
different
parts
of Yorubaland. In this
truly great work,
22
Verger
studied
twenty-six
brisa'
cults, plus
the
figure
of
Ol6run.
For nine of these
and also for
Ol6run
he has included no
oriki,
so these we shall have to
leave out of account. Of the
remaining eighteen
drisa,
no fewer than
half are themselves the sole
objects
of
devotion,
no other
brifs4
being
mentioned. Such include the oriki addressed to
fissi,
Oditdiiwi,
Ositmare
and
Yemoja.
Seven of the
remaining
nine have
oriki
that contain
references to between one and three other
brisa'.
In some cases these
are in
any
case
usually associated,
and are cited
by way
of
defining
the
position
of the
brisat
concerned. The seven include
Oguin, Orany~n,
Osun,
Oya
and
S6p6nna.
The
last two
brisa,
Obatalt
and
Sang6,
stand
out from the rest in that
they
are associated with no fewer than
eight
and twelve other
drtisi respectively.
These two have
clearly
a
special
21
F.
Heiler, Erscheinungsformen
und Wesen der
Religion. Stuttgart:
Kohl-
hammer
Verlag, 1961.
22
P.
Verger,
Notes sur le culte...
(1957).
194
P'. R.
McKenzie
status as heads of a cluster of associated deities.
Ol6di~mare by
contrast
is referred to
only
once in an oriki of
Sang6,
one of the
very
few
instances recorded in all the oriki.
Onilk
also does not
appear
in
any
way
to have the kind of status ascribed to her
by
Morton-Williams.
Verger
records no oriki and chants for the
Ifat
cult
group,
but
William
Bascom
more than makes
up
for this lack with his
superb
collection of verses from the
Ifa
corpus,
likewise drawn from a
very
wide area. 23 He lists in full
I86
'verses',
some of them
running
into
several
pages each,
from about one fifth of the
256
different
figures
of the odit. These verses contain besides a certain amount of
folk-lore,
references to
many
of the
3ris&
studied
by Verger,
and others besides.
(Ten
of
Verger's 6risa
are
incidentally,
not mentioned at all in
Bascom's
verses.)
The concern with other
drisa`
is to be
expected
in a
divination cult
serving
members of other
cult-groups.
What is sur-
prising
is the extent to which
many
brisit
are
hardly
mentioned at all.
No fewer than nine are mentioned
only
once, including
Oro, Osun,
Oya,
Obaliifbn
and
Oramfe;
six more are
only
mentioned
twice,
including Osanyin
and
Olosa;
a similar number occur three
times,
including Sng6,
Sbpbnna,
the
Ogb6ni
and
Oglin. ObtaTla,
Ol6kun
and
Ogrin
feature twice as
prominently again,
as do the evil
spirits
and the
dangerous
earth
spirits.
Then there is an enormous
jump
to a
group
of
three; Orunmila,
the
3rss&
of the
Ifa
cult-group
itself,
who
appears
more than
forty
times,
and a little less in
evidence,
Esil
and Ol6run-
Ol6dilmarei.
These
rough
statistics more than bear out Bascom's claim
that for the Ifa
cult-group Orunmila, I?si
and
Ol6diimare
form a kind
of
trinity,
or
preferably, triad,
in their
dealings
with the
individual,
his
destiny
and his ancestral
guardian
soul.
Ol6ditmare
is master of that
destiny,
with his home in the
sky.
Orunmilli
knows the divine
order,
Esiu
the divine
unpredictibility; together they complement
the
Sky
Deity forming
a
triangle
which indeed encloses the individual and his
destiny
on
earth,
and even his
pre-existence
and
post-existence.
24
But
while this
Ifti 3risa-triad
assumes a
special form,
the other
brisa~
and
their cults seem not to be
very closely
related to
it;
many
indeed seem
to be
marginal,
or to be
ignored altogether.
23
W. R.
Bascom, Ifa
divination: communication between
gods
and men in
West
Africa. Bloomington:
Indiana
University
Press
1969.
24
Ol6duimare is referred to
by
Bascom as the 'God of
Destiny' (The Yoruba,
p. 79).
In the oriki there
appears
to be little reference to the
general
belief that
in extremis members of all the cult
groups
turn to
Ol6run-Ol6duimare.
Such a
belief would tend to be reinforced
by
the influence of
Ol6run-Ala (Christian
and
Muslim
concepts) though
to what extent is not clear.
Yoruba Orisa Cults
195
Another observer of the
3drsh
cults who has
reported
on their fes-
tivals in a
particular
area of
Oyo state,
is the Austrian Ulli
Beier.
At i'de between
1952
and
1956
he found that the festivals of three
cult
groups
were no
longer
observed,
nine others he was able to
describe. 25 On the whole the festivals were
separate,
but in one
case,
dancers from another
cult-group played
a
part
in the entertainment. In
another case two other brisa were referred to in the oriki verses
quoted.
In the second
town, Ilobu,
26 the
aris':
cults were
similarly
separate
for the most
part.
The
oriki
extract for
Erinle,
the town's most
important brish,
was addressed
solely
to the
hunting divinity
himself.
Oya was, however,
seen in association with
Sang6,
a feature we should
expect
since she is his consort.
Then,
in addition to 1sui and
Ifit,
the
Ibeji
cult of twins seemed to be
represented among
the other
cults,
not so much in the oriki verses as in the form of visual
images.
The
Eguinguin
cult
group
seemed to be the most
open
in
membership
at
Ilobu and also at
Osogbo, numbering among
its members Muslims and
Christians as well. Another feature found at Ilobu was the festival of
the
images,
which
provided
an
opportunity
for an ecumenical
gathering
of members of the nine cult
groups
of the town which had
images
in
their shrines.
Osun,
Ogrin
and
Obitaila
were not included.
27
If
there is
a connection between artistic and
religious vitality,
Ulli Beier found in
this one small Yoruba town in the
I950s
no fewer than nine
flourishing
cult-groups.
Ulli
Beier discusses the
cult-groups
and the
brrisa
at
Osogbo,
not far
from
Ilobu,
in a recent
work,
The Return
of
the Gods.
28
This
study
is concerned with the
interesting
and controversial
attempt by
Susanne
Wenger,
a convert to the
brisa,
to
provide
homes
(shrines
and
images)
for the
brish
to
settle
in,
after a
long period
of
uprootedness.
Susanne,
an
Ogb6ni
elder and a
priestess
of
Obtailti,
has also done much for the
official cult of
Osogbo,
isun.
She has
given support
to the
brtisa
not
only by encouraging astonishing
works of
art,
but also
by formulating
a kind of universalist
bris&
doctrine. Her
cosmology appears
to be a
kind of
pantheism
or
panentheism,
with
Ol6di~mare
as the total of the
All
including
the
brish,
and with each
brisa
a
personalization
of the
25
Ulli Beier,
A
year of
sacred
festivals
in one Yoruba town.
Nigeria Maga-
zine, Lagos, special
issue
1959.
26
Ulli
Beier,
The
story of
sacred wood
carvings
in one small Yoruba town.
Nigeria Magazine, Lagos, special issue, July
I957.
27
Ulli Beier,
Festival of the
Images, Nigeria Magazine
no.
45, 1954, 14-20.
28
Ulli
Beier,
The return
of
the
gods:
the sacred art
of
Susanne
Wenger,
Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press
1975.
196
P. R. McKenzie
universe,
a kind of
Verdichtung,
condensation,
of the forces of the
universe at a certain
place,
seen from a certain
angle.
29
Ol6dhimari
is
multiple Deity
or
Being,
one at all times and
places,
but accessible
through
ritsh
devotion.
In
the
only
oriki
cited,
the
subjective
theism of
drisha
devotion would
appear
to be linked with her view of
inclusive,
multiple Deity.
I mention Susanne's views in this
way
since she has
been enabled
through
her aesthetic
sensitivity
to
penetrate
more
deeply
than
any
other
European
known to me into the
religious experience
of
the
ol6risa&,
the one who 'makes
orish'.
30
Finally,
I would
briefly
mention the evidence from the
fragments
of
oriki
and chants of festivals
reported
on
by
different observers
during
the
past twenty-five years
in the
Nigeria Magazine.
31
More than a
dozen different
3risa
are
directly
addressed and celebrated in the
festivals recorded. Of two further festivals of sacred
kings,
one
contains little or no mention of
deities;
the
other,
at
Ondo,
concerned
with
royal
ancestors at Ondo and Ife
including
Oramfe,
only
mentions
two other
3rish.
Turning
to the
3rits
venerated
directly
at annual fes-
tivals,
five have
apparently
no other associates. The account of a
sixth,
Sang6,
at
Osogbo,
refers
only
in a
myth
to
Oya
and
Osun
as his wives.
similarly
at
Ife,
Oris.-'l'
(ObatVil),
is associated
explicitly only
with
Yemoja
and Ifa.
In
the case of
Ogt'n
in
Ekiti,
two
,3risY
and also
O16run-Ol6duimare
are referred to in
myths.
At
Ede,
Obittld's
festival
is
clearly
associated in well-known
myths
with four other
rtisa
and
with
Ol6duimare.
One
tutelary divinity,
Ori-Oki,
at
Iragbeji
is asso-
ciated with five other
drish&.
The
Osun
festival at
Osogbo
includes some
attention
given
to seven other
6ri~s
but no
explicit
reference to
Ol6dui-
mark.
Finally, Agemo
in
Ijebuland
stands alone and
supreme, having
nothing
to do with the northern Yoruba
6rish.
32
We have
perhaps
included
enough
evidence to see that with more
and more material the
picture
could be
continually
filled out at some
point.
But I believe a kind of basic
pattern
is
emerging, though
it
should be left
very
much
open-ended.
We have the basic
subjective
29
Ibid., 33f.
30 Cf. Susanne
Wenger-Alarape,
interview in the
Nigerian Observer, 7
March
1969.
31 See Nos.
40, 45, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53, 56, 58, 70, 71, 77, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 90, 95,
99,
Ioo,
107, io8,
Iog
and
II4.
Cf.
Bibliography (Ceremonies),
in S.
O.
Biobaku,
Sources in Yoruba history,
Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1973, 254f.
It should be
noted that Ulli Beier has also contributed
many
of the accounts of festivals in
this series.
32
Oyin Ogunba,
The
Agemo
Cult in
Yorubaland, Nigeria Magazine
no.
86,
September 1965, 176-186.
Yoruba Orisa Cults
197
theism of the individual
brisa.
We have the
uniqueness
of each
drith.
We have clusters of
briS.s
round a few
prominents
ones. We have the
special cosmology
of the
Ifi
cult-group.
At one
point
we have
Agemo,
virtually eclipsing
Ol6dlimare
as national or
Supreme Deity
in
Ijebu-
land.
Finally hovering
in the
background
we have
myths
and
legends
of the
drri~h
in
interaction,
which we have
barely
hinted
at,
and whose
complexity
seems
impossible
to fathom.
Looking
back to the
tidy
models of Yoruba
cosmology
we must
ask,
How much of them is it
possible
to retain?
Let us
begin again
with the individual
oris&.
The
extraordinary
richness of Yoruba
religion
lies in the
profusion
of its
6ris&,
in the
facility
with which in the
past
an
ritsa
has formed and
gathered
about
itself a
cult-group. (Aiydlala,
is a
fairly
recent
example. 33)
There
follows in each case
inevitably,
the
entry
into
relationships
with other
drish,
the division into different
drisar,
or the
coalescing
with other
eriss (S~ng6
and
Jikita).
34
It is
subjective theism, with, objectively,
Deity particularized
and concretized in two directions: a link on the
one hand with the natural and
impersonal world-hills, trees, rivers,
earth, sky;
and on the other with the human and
personal sphere-
societies,
historical
events,
cultural and economic
activities, war,
farm-
ing, healing, founding
of cities and
towns,
kings, culture-heroes,
ancestors, peace-makers,
down to the individual's
spirit
double
(ori).
It
is
impossible
to do
justice
to the whole
range
of
risa~
but
they,
and
even
Ol6diimare
and
Agemo
do seem to have this double
aspect,
the
natural and the socio-historical.
Examples
are
Ol6run,
linked with the
sky
and with the individual's
destiny,
or
S.ing6,
associated with thunder
and
storms,
and the
royal
ancestor of the
Oyo kings.
The
picture
is
further
complicated by
the movements of
peoples bringing
their own
brish,
the
expansion
of
empires,
and above all the
flexibility
of the
Yoruba social
system
which allows for a considerable element of choice
for the
individual,
and for his
being
called to serve an
arisa
other than
that of his father or mother or his
compound.
35
In all these
factors,
there
are,
I
believe,
two
underlying
forces: those
making
for theistic
particularity
(Gbtterspaltung)
and those
making
33
J. O. Awolalu, Aiyelkla
-
a
guardian
of social
morality, Orita, 2, 1968,
79-89.
34 E. B.
Idowu,
Ol6dd'emar?,
92f.
35 See
Frobenius, op.cit., 1913
and
1926;
and
Bascom, op.cit., I944
and
1969,
for details. The social context of the cults is
obviously important
in
establishing
a
clear
picture
of current
practices.
198
P. R. McKenzie
for theistic reunification
(Gottervereinigung).
36
We can see
already
in the oriki and chants how these
opposing
tendencies
operate.
The oriki exalts the
particular
3risa,
and
yet
the more it is
exalted,
the
more is the
tendency
for the accretion of further
attributes, including
those of other
3riss
(by
communicatio
idiomatum,
to use the term
coined
by
Lutheran
Orthodoxy). Differing
shades and
nuances,
his-
torical
particularity
and
uniqueness preserve
the
individuality
of the
3risa,
but most come with time to the
position
of
being
able to confer
all
things upon
their devotees:
healing, fertility
of
crops,
children,
wealth and
position,
solution of life's
problems,
fulfilment of
personal
destiny,
and so on.
(There
are of course other
6risa
who are so to
speak
consultant
specialists
to be called
upon
if
necessary,
such as
Ifi,
s.iu,
Osanyin, Sang6, etc.) Thus,
most if not all of the
arish
combine in one
way
or another elements of tremendum and
fascinosum. They
are
regarded by
devotees as
Deity
in the full
sense,
37
Deity original,
not
borrowed,
inherent not ministerial. All are Deities. The
corpus
of
myths
documents
the
"worldly"
interaction of the
3risai
and illustrates
the forces
making
for theistic
particularity
and reunification.
38
But there is doubtless another
law,
which the
3rish
are affected
by,
that of
growth
and decline.
Perhaps
we should
say
this is a law of the
(rAsch
cults rather than the
3rish
themselves,
who as divine
beings
can
never die. The
Brish
grow by specialization,
in
providing
services for
others,
in the case of
If'
and
Egringfn,
even for Muslims and Christ-
ians. General festivals of
images (o're)
and-more
importantly today-
participation
in one another's festivals also tend to foster the
growth
of the cults.
Finally, expansion
of the
3risah
cults into the areas of other
religions
and
cultures,
leads to the
preservation
of the
rissh
under
syncretistic
forms: in
Dahomey
under the
Vodun,
and in
Brazil,
Cuba
and
Trinidad,
under the forms of the
Apostles
and Saints.
Opposed
to
all
this,
of
course,
is the massive
onslaught
of
Islam, Christianity
and
Modernity.
Summing up:
what we see
with
the
3risa
is a series of Deities sub-
jected
to the
operation
of an ever
changing
and
dynamic configuration
of forces
making
for
particularity
and for
unity.
The
triangular
cosmo-
logical
model, reflecting
the work of
theological speculation,
stimulated
3G
Cf. A. Bertholet's
Gitterspaltung
und
Gittervereinigung (Tiibingen:
Mohr
1933);
also F.
Heiler, op.cit.
37
Cf. C. A.
Long, op.cit., 337.
38
Cf. H.
Courlander,
Tales
of
Yoruba
gods
and
heroes,
New York: Crown
Publishers
1973.
Yoruba Orisa Cults
199
from
without,
cannot
hope
to
provide
an
adequate picture.
Even the
revised model is too static. We
can, I believe, go
farther than
Verger's
juxtaposed theisms,
by admitting
to
special
forms
of
Deity,
clusters of
orish, partial uniformities,
but not to
any complete cosmological picture.
We can
speak,
with C. A.
Long,
of monotheism as "an
enduring
struc-
ture of the
religious experience itself",
39 but we
ought
not to
begin-as
Long
and so
many
others do-from
'above',
with the result that a
complete metaphysical superstructure
is
tacitly
assumed. Rather we
must
begin
from 'below' with the
experience
of the
brisaN
cults them-
selves;
and content ourselves meanwhile with
'open-ended' theisms,
clusters, partial configurations
and above all different
theologies
within Yoruba traditional
religious
cults themselves. Some of these will
want to
include,
and work down
from,
the
Supreme Deity,
as a fruit
of
theological speculation
from
within,
others will
proceed
in other
directions, notably by raising
the
3risas
to a more and more exalted
position.
39
C. A.
Long, op.cit., 342.
APPENDIX A
A short list of Yoruba Deities
(Those
Deities mentioned in the article are
asterisked)
Name of
Deity
Brief
Group
Name of
Deity
Brief
Group
Characterization Number Characterization Number
Abikfi
family
cult 8
*Egujngin
-
see
Amaiyegun
Adimuin OriS
Awori towns
6,7
t1li
-
see
If~
Agbiladgba 'white'
3ris.Y
4
illek6
- see
Egb6
*Agemo Ijebu deity 4(I)
El~6dai
-
see
Ol6dlimare
*Aiyelila
Social
morality 5
tRluku'
masked cult 6
Aaji
Healing
arts
5
tminalk
paralysis 5,12
Aj
e-s$al'gh
Trade
5 Epa masks,
Ekiti
5,6
Ak&rCin River, Ikalaland
7 *Erinle'
river,
Ilobu
7
Ak6ko
Tree
spirit 7
Eriwore
river, Ikale 7
*Amaiyegun
Eguingiin
6
fsidale
with
Odidfdiwa
4
Ariba Tree
spirit 7
*Rjs1
(Elegbira)
4(1)
Aribeji Ilaje
Or6
6 Ewele bush
spirit
8
Ar6ni
herbal med.
8(5)
Gile~de
fertility
+ life
5,6
Atbri
Tree
spirit 7
*Ibejl
tutelary spirit
Aybn
Tree
spirit 7
of twins
7,8
Ay6n
n-see
(Or.sa)
ilii *JIf
(Orun' milk)
order + wisdom
4(1)
Baba
Agbi
'white'
3riyr
4
Igb6
bush
spirit 7
BabalGaiye
- see
$6p6bnn
Igun:nukun Nupe
Eguin
6
Baba
Sigidi
forensic
deity
I2
ejisiu
earth
goddess
4
B
yanni
- see Dida
Ijugbe
associate of
Bhkui
Abeokuta
7
Obital~
4
Dida n. born babies
5 *Il (Onile)
earth
goddess
2
*DSingbe
Afr.
python
5
11Ni
3riE
of drums
5
Egbei
Wmn's
Eguingan
6
1pin guardian
soul
Io
Egb&ire
Children's
spirits
8
1pin Ijeun
soul in stomach
Io
Egfn
- see
Araba
lp6ri
3rriyay
in toes
Io
ei
no
*1rok5
tree
spirit
7 Ol6b0 tutelary
ri~i
7
*Irunmal"
earth
spirits
12
nr.
Akuire
Iwin il'
earth
spirits
I
*Ol6duimarei
Iya
Map6
goddess
of
potters 5 (Ol6run) I(3)
1yeye
tree
spirit
7
O16feffra
rqd,
Ife
7
*JR'kdfta
early
storm
deity 4
O16fin
son,
Odhiduwa,
J6-m-f"
sky deity,
Ondo
3
founder Lagos
4,5
K6ri oriSa
of childbirth 5
016ke
hill
deity, Ikole
7
*Oba river,
wife of
7(4)
O166kfi
ta hill deity, kkiti 7
Sing6
*O165kun
white deity,
Oba
Brirgb6
-
see Obital'
God of the Ocean 4
Oba
Igbo
- see Obitild *Olb65*
god of lagoons 4
*Obalifbn
white 3rz;~
of
3,5
O16sunta
hill deity, Ekiti 7
speech,
weaving
Olfif6n
-
see
Obatkil4
etc.
Olfiwa
mobi river deity, 7
Obaluaiy~
-
see
.S6p6nna
Ikaleland
Oba-meri elder of Odiduw9,
7
0m,
tree spirit
7
If e
Omolu
-
see
Sbpbnna
Oba-Ai-ta
Ijebu
founder 5
Omon
iya
Ogb6ni cult, Ijebu
2
*Obitail Sky God,
Creator 3
Ona Ori;S of roads
5
Od6
'river' Otajibo 7
Ond6foyi
fnder. goddess,
5
*Od
duw
Creator,
fnder.
3,5
Egbado
Og~-fi-l~i
rS,
Ikaleland 7
*O-rmfa
solar deity,
Ife
4
*Ogb6ni
-
see
Il1
OrAngaAi
son of
Yemoja, 4
Oginyafi
white
ris';,
4,5
King
of
Ila,
air
Ejigbo; *Orani
yan
son,
Oduduwa 4
n.
yams
Ore deity
of
hunters, 5
*OguAi
national (riFa 4
Ife
iron, war,
Orelui're
hero, guardian
of
5
hunters
domestic morality,
Okbaidin
hill
deity
7
Ife
Oke 01'mo
hill
deity 7
*Ori personal destiny
IO
*OkO-Oriri
hill
deity,
Iwo
household r;riqS
Okbr6bbj
lake, deity,
7 Ori-Oke
hill deity, 7
Okitipupa
Iragbeji
03
0
?3
to
?
Name
of
Deity
Brief
Group
Name of
Deity
Brief
Group
Characterization Number
Characterization
Number
Oritakb
- see
Obttildi (Ok6)
Ose
tree
spirit 7
Oris$
white
deity 4
(Baobab)
Alie
Ose
Tfir4
carries sacrifices
5
(Oluorogbo)
to
Ol6dfimare Orid
Igbo white
deity, Igbo 4
O66ssi
hunters'
deity 5
Orish
Ikire
white
deity,
Ikire
4
*Osuim
re
rainbow
serpent 4
*Orid-fil:
- see
Obktal~
of underworld
Orid-Oba white
deity,
Ond6
4 *Osun river
deity 7
*Oris-Oko
ari$t
of
4(2)
Oshogbo
agriculture, Irawo,
Otin
river
goddess, 7
new
yams Ekoende
Ories
P6p6
white
deity, 4 *Oya
(Od6
Oya) r.Niger,
wife
4,7
Ogbomosho
Srng6
Orisa
Teko
white
deity,
Ife
4 Oye
harmattan
deity 4
*Orb
spirit
world
deity,
6
Peregufi
&riFi
of trees in
7
Egba sacred
groves
Orb
tree, river, wind, II *Sing6
solar and storm
4
stillbirths
deity
Orb igi evil forest
spirits
12
*Sbpbnnr smallpox,
earth
5,12
Oronfe
fertility deity, 5(7) *Yemoja
goddess,
rivers and
2,6
Ondo, from Ife
streams
*Osanyin
oracular deity
4,5
Y wa
river
goddess 7
of herbal
medicine
t\)
a
to
zt
Yoruba Orisa Cults
203
APPENDIX B
A
Typology
of some Yoruba Deities
(* signifies
that the
Deity
is
mentioned
in the
article)
i.
Cosmic,
All
Deity
2. Great Mother
3.
Celestial
Father,
Goddess
Sky Deity,
Creator
*Ol6duimar (016run) *Il
J6-m-fa
*(Agemo)
Omon
iya *Obalif6n
*(tsi?)
*(Orisa-Oko)
*Obital,
*(I
f,)
*Yemoja *Odhduwd
*(Ol6diimard)
4.
Great
Aspect Deity,
or in the cluster of a
deity
*Agemo Oried
Ikire *Oba
(Ijebuland) Orisa-Oba (Ondo) *Osun
*RUi
(Disorder) OriSa P6p6 *Oya
*Ifa
(Wisdom) (Ogbomosho) *Oraimfe (Ife)
*(Obitild)
Orisd
Teko
ljesi' (earth)
(white
6ri,)
*(Odiduwa) *Oris0-Oko (new yams)
Agba~~i
gbg tsidale
*Ohmirr
(rainbow
Baba
Agba Ol6fin
sfiake
of
underworld)
Ijugbe
*Orafiyin
*(Yemoja)
Oginyafi
*Osanyin
OranguAi
(air space)
*O166kun (Ocean)
*Oguni
(war, iron) *Ol6a. (lagoons)
Ori~
Alihe
*Sang6 (solar, storm) Oy6 (harmattan)
Oris~h Igbo
*Jikfita
204
P. R. McKenzie
5.
Functional and Abstract
Deity, Orisa-Founder
Drumming: Pottery:
lii
Iyra
Map6
Fertility
and Children: Roads:
Dada
Ona
Gelede
Sacrifices carried to
K6ri
O16d'imar'
:
Oronfe
(Ond6)
Ose Tiira
Hunting: Speech, Success,
Ore
Weaving:
Os66si *Obldflf'n
Medicine and sickness: Trade:
AjiAAj
i-$.Sulg
Arbni
tminal Or
isa-Founders:
*S6pbnna
Oba-i'-ta
(Ijebu)
*(OdUlduwa)
(Ife)
Morality: (O16fin)
(tk6)
*Aiy61ila
(Okitipupa)
Ond6foyi (Imali)
Oreluere (Ife)
Wood
carving:
New
Yams: Epa
(tkiti)
(Oginyafi)
(Ejigbo)
6.
Dying
and
Rising, Dema, Spirit
World Deities
*(Yemoja)
lukfi
Adimu'n
Oris (GZeled )
*Amaiyegun Igunnukun
(Egi'ngi'n)
*Or6
Aribeji (Ilaje Oro) *Dangbe (Python deity)
Egb6 Epa (masks ?re)
Yoruba Orisa Cults
205
7. Local, tutelary,
and
place
deities
Bush: Tree
oriyc:
Igb6
Akbko
Araba
Hills:
At6ri
Okhbidan
Ay6n
Ok' Oli'mo *Irok6
*Ok& Oriri
lyey&
Ol6ke
(Ikole)
Omy
O165kf'ta (Akiti)
Os'
Olosunta
(Ikere)
POrsgun
Ori-Oki
(trngbeji)
Towns:
Lake:
Bfikfi
(Abeokuta)
Okbrbbbj6
(Okitipupa)
Ol6bh
(nr. Akiire)
Rivers:
Oba-meri
Akerfin
(Ikaleland)
Ol6feffira (Ifk)
*Erinl&
(Ilobu)
Og6-fil
(Ikaleland)
Eriwore (Ikale) Twins:
*(Oba)
*Ibeji
Odo
(Otajibo)
Oluiwa
Mobi
(Ikaleland)
*(Osun) (Osogbo)
Otin
(Ekoende)
*(Oya)
Yewa
8.
Lesser Deities and
Spirits 9. Archangels, Angels
Abilfi
Egbere
Epa
Ewele
206 P. R. McKenzie
Io.
Guardian
spirit-double, I1. "Puckish", partly negative
personal spirits spirits
pipfi
Iwin Ile
Ipifi ljeun
Or
I
pbri
*Ori
12.
Dangerous, negative
forces
Baba
Sigidi
RtminalI
*Irunmale
Orb
Igi
*Sbpbnna
Yoruba Orisa
Cults
207
Note: Sources consulted for the
above
lists include the
following:
Abraham,
R. C.
Dictionary of
modern Yoruba. London:
University
of London Press
1958.
Awolalu, J. O., Aiyella-a guardian
of social
morality.
Orita
2,
1968, 79-89.
Awolalu, J. O.
Sacrifice in Yoruba
religion. University
of
Ibadan,
Ph.D. dissertation
1971.
Bascom,
William R. The
sociological
role
of
the Yoruba cult
group.
American
Anthropological Association,
Memoir
63, 1944.
Bascom,
William R. The Yoruba
of
Southwestern
Nigeria.
New
York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston
1969.
Beier,
Ulli. A
year of
sacred
festivals
in one Yoruba town.
Nigeria
Magazine, special issue,
1959.
Courlander,
H. Tales
of
Yoruba
gods
and heroes. New York: Crown
Publishers
1973.
Epega,
D.
O.
The basis
of
Yoruba
religion. Ebutemetta,
Nigeria:
Ijamido
Publishers
1971.
Fabunmi,
M. A.
Ife
shrines. Ife:
University
of Ife Press
1969.
Farrow,
S. S.
Faith,
fancies
and
fetish.
London: S.P.C.K.
1926.
Idowu,
E. B.
Oladitmark:
God in Yoruba
belief.
London:
Longman
1962.
Lucas, J. O.
The
religion of
the Yorubas.
Lagos:
C.M.S.
Bookshop
1948.
Verger,
P. Notes sur le culte des
Orisa
et Vodun a
Bahia,
la Baie de
tous les
Saints,
au Bresil et a l'ancienne C6te des
Esclaves
en
Afrique.
Dakar:
I.F.A.N.
1957-
Responsibility
for
any
mistakes rests with the author.

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Yoruba r Cults: Some Marginal Notes concerning Their Cosmology and Concepts of Deity

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